Closure for laundry machin receptacle



A. 12, 1958 E. D. BILDE 2,347,141

CLOSURE FOR LAUNDRY MACHINE RECEPTACLE Filed Jan. 22, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

W 4770mm? AugQlZ, 1958' T. E. D. BlLDE 4 CLOSURE FOR LAUNDRY MACHINE RECEPTACLE Filed Jan. 22; 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR. gm [5 1 M M W arm CLOSURE F OR LAUNDRY MACHINE RECEPTACLE Tord Erik Daniel Bilde, Stockholm, Sweden, assignor to Aktieholaget Elektrolux, Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Application January 22, 1952, Serial No. 267,653

Claims priority, application Sweden January 23, 1951 10 Claims. (Cl. 220-25) My invention relates to a laundry machine, and more particularly to such a machine having an access opening to a receptacle which is closed by a cover within the receptacle and of greater cross-sectional area than the opening.

In laundry machines it is often desirable to employ a receptacle having an opening and a cover therefor of greater cross-sectional area than the opening, and to close the receptacle by positioning the cover in the interior of the receptacle at the vincinity of the opening. This is especially true in laundry machines employing a flexible inner liner which is contracted to squeeze liquid from laundry therein. When the flexible inner liner is contracted, the laundry is compressed against the inner face of the cover at which region apertures usually are provided to allow extracted liquid to overflow from the receptacle. When subjected to such use, the cover must be sufliciently heavy to withstand deformation and capable of being mounted in such a manner that a housewife can easily install the cover in position and remove the same with very little effort.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improvement to facilitate the insertion into a laundry machine receptacle of a circular cover having a greater diameter than that of a circular access opening for the receptacle.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved mechanical arrangement for holding the cover only while the latter is in a closed position within the receptacle, the mechanical provisions being rendered operable to hold the cover only in its closed position in the act of manually holding and moving the cover to the closed position.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention will be better understood from the following description and accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and of which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken at line 11 of Fig. 2, illustrating a laundry machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the laundry machine of Fig. l, partly broken away, to illustrate details more clearly;

Fig. 3 is a view generally similar to Fig. 1 and differs therefrom in that the cover is shown projecting through the top opening of the laundry machine, additional positions of the cover also being shown in dotted lines; and

Figs. 4 and 5 are enlarged fragmentary sectional views taken at line 44 and 5-5, respectively, of Fig. 2.

In Figs. 1 to 5 I have shown my invention embodied in a laundry machine comprising an outer casing having a neck portion or collar 11 defining a top opening 12 adapted to be closed by a cover or closure member 14-. The casing 18 serves as an outer container which is of cylindrical form and within which is disposed a flexible inner liner 15 formed of suitable resilient material, such as rubber, for example. The inner liner 15 defines a receptacle 16 in which washing and rinsing of clothes and other textile materials may be effected, and

2,847,141 Patented Aug. 12, 1958 the upper end of such liner may be fixed in position within the neck portion or collar 11 with the aid of a ringshaped metal band 17. The laundry machine embodies provisions for removing liquid from the upper part of the receptacle 16. As shown, a multiplicity of overflow openings 18 forming a drain outlet are distributed about the neck portion or collar 11. A member 19 of annular form cooperates with the apertured collar 11 to provide a ring-shaped chamber or manifold 20 into which liquid passes through the openings 18, and a conduit 21 is connected to the manifold 20 for conducting liquid therefrom to waste, for example.

Although I do not wish to be limited thereto, the laundry machine being described and illustrated herein may be of a type like that described in Bilde et al. application Serial No. 102,362, filed June 30, 1949, now United States Letters Patent No. 2,676,088, granted April 20, 1954, which includes provisions for overflowing liquid from the upper part of the receptacle in a manner similar to that just described, introducing washing and rinsing liquids into the bottom part of the receptacle, withdrawing such liquids from the bottom part of the receptacle and supplying liquid under pressure behind the inner flexible liner to cause the latter to contract and squeeze liquid from laundry therein. In order to simplify the drawings, the different provisions just mentioned have not been shown, their illustration not being necessary for an understanding of my invention. However, to the extent necessary, the disclosure of the aforementioned Bilde et al. application may be considered as being incorporated in and a part of this application disclosure with respect to any features referred to herein although not illustrated and described in detail.

In accordance with my invention, I provide an improved cover or closure member for the washing apparatus which can be readily inserted into and removed from its closed position and which will be effectively held at the opening of the washing apparatus when laundry is being squeezed in the contractible inner liner 15 and pressed against the underside of the cover to extract liquid through openings 18. I do this by providing the cover 14 having a cross-sectional area which is larger than the size of the top opening 12. As shown in Fig. 4, the member 19 providing the manifold chamber 20 includes a downwardly sloping top wall 22 and vertically extending wall portion 23 depending therefrom which defines the upper region of the top opening 12. A horizontally disposed wall portion 24 projects radially outward from the vertical wall portion 23 and cooperates with the upper end of the neck portion or collar 11 of the container 10. Hence, when the cover 14 is inserted into position, the horizontal wall portion 24, which is of annular form and more or less ring-shaped, provides a downwardly facing surface with which the outer peripheral edge portion of the cover cooperates.

A number of holding members 25 are distributed about the neck 11 and located at regions between the openings 18, as seen in Fig. 1. As best shown in Fig. 4, each holding member 25 comprises an inner rounded end portion and an outer cylindrical portion which is movable in a hollow sleeve or tubular element 26. The inner end of each sleeve 26 is fixed at 27 to the collar 11 at the region of an opening therein, a spring 28 being retained under compression within the sleeve to urge or bias the holding member 25 to its innermost position which is determined by ashoulder or stop 29 formed within the sleeve.

In order to insert the cover 12 into position and remove the cover completely from the container 10, the wall defining the top opening 12 is formed with a pair of re cesses or notches 30 diametrically opposite one another,

as best seen in Fig. 2. When Fig. 5, which is a view at one of the recessed regions 30, is Compared with Fig. 4, it will be evident that the vertically extending wall portion 23 at the region of the recesses or notches 30 is essentially flush with the extreme upper end section of the collar 11 of the container 10. Hence, the recessed regions 30 are characterized by the absence of the horizontal wall portion 24 which permits the cover 14 to be moved sideways through the top opening 12 in the manner shown in solid lines in Fig. 3. After more than onehalf of the cover has moved past the recessed regions 30, the cover can conveniently be tilted to the uppermost position seen in dotted lines in Fig. 3 and then moved to the lower horizontal position indicated in dotted lines. When the cover 14 is in the horizontal dotted line position shown in Fig. 3, which may be referred to as an intermediate posit-ion below the plane at which the downwardly facing surface of member 24 is disposed, it is then raised to bring the top peripheral surface thereof against the horizontal wall portion 24. With such upward movement of the cover 14, the extreme edge of the cover acts against the rounded inner ends of the holding members 25 and causes the latter to move a sufficient distance against the biasing action of the springs 28 to allow the edge of the cover to move past the holding members. After the cover has been moved upwardly past the holding members, the latter are immediately moved radially inward under the action of the springs 28 and efiect-ively hold the cover 14 in its closed position. When the flexible inner liner 15 is contracted to squeeze liquid from the laundry in the receptacle 16 through the openings 18, the cover is securely held in its closed position by reason of the fact that it is always actingand bearing against the horizontal wall portion 24 whose inner diameter is less than the outer diameter of the cover.

While I have shown the holding members 25 formed with inner rounded ends, it should be understood that the holding members may be formed with any suitable beveled surface which will enable the cover to be moved past the holding members when the peripheral edge of the cover acts against the inner ends of the holding members. When holding members 25 having rounded inner ends are employed, such rounded inner ends have converging surfaces at diametrically opposing sides which slope toward one another, one of which physically contacts the peripheral edge portion of the cover 14, as seen in Fig. 4. The diametrically opposed converging surfaces at the inner ends of the holding members 25, one of which is shown in Fig. 4, are so constructed and formed that the only force required to move the cover to and from its closed position is a force applied to the cover substantially in alignment with the axis of the opening 12 which imparts outward radial movement to the members 25. When the cover 14 is to be removed from its closed position, it is pushed downwardly from the solid line position in Fig. l to the lower dotted line position in Fig. 3 and then tilted to the vertical positions shown to withdraw the cover through the top opening 12 while the peripheral edge portions thereof are located in the recessed portions or notches 30. Hence, the holding members 25 are rendered respectively operable and inoperable to hold the cover 14 in its closed position responsive only to manual movement of the cover to and from its closed position within the receptacle 16.

In view of the foregoing, it will now be understood that an improved arrangement has been provided for inserting into position within the receptacle 16 the circular cover 14 of greater cross-sectional area than the circular top opening 12. Since both the cover 14 and opening 12 are of circular shape, it is not necessary to turn the cover 14 to a set or particular position preparatory to sideways or edgewise movement thereof through the opening 12 at the vicinity of the recesses or notches 30. Also, itis not necessary to turn or twist the cover by its handle 31 to a set or particular position when being moved upwardly from its lower intermediate horizontal position, as seen in dotted lines in Fig.3, to its final position of rest which is best illustrated in Fig. 1. Hence, in positioning the cover 14 within the receptacle to its closed position, no special manipulating of the cover is required other than moving it sideways through the top opening at the vicinity of the notches 30 and then simply raising the cover to its final position of rest.

The mechanical provisions provided for holding and supporting the cover 14 are only effective to hold the cover while it is in a closed position. When the cover is pushed downwardly from its closed position, the holding members 25 are immediately ineffective to hold and support the cover and the latter is completely free of attachment and can be easily removed from the interior of the receptacle 16. In this manner a maximum amount of free and unobstructed space will be provided in the interior of the receptacle for handling the laundry therein and the likelihood of forcibly striking or scraping the hand against the edges of exposed movable metal parts will be avoided. In the preferred embodiment shown anddescribed above, the holding members 25 are the only exposed metal parts which are fully rounded and not likely to be readily moved if a hand should contact such parts by reason of the relatively strong spring bias of these parts to their innermost positions.

Further, the mechanical provisions for holding the cover 14 in its final position of rest are disposed within the laundry machine and are rendered operable to hold the cover only in its closed position solely in the act of manually holding and moving the cover to the closed position. Hence, no special manipulation of a locking lever is necessary after the cover is moved to its closed position to lock the cover in place. Also, the mechanical provisions provided are rendered inoperable to hold the cover responsive solely to movement of the cover inwardly from its closed position at the region of the top opening 12.

It will be seen that the notches or recesses 30 are relatively small and essentially provide gaps at opposite sides of the opening 12 which will enable the cover 14 to be moved edgewise or sideways therethrough. With such arrangement, the downwardly facing surface of the horizontally disposed annular part 24 will provide a hearing surface for the peripheral edge portion of the cover 14 which extends about the circular opening 12 for an angular distance approaching and approximating 360. In any event, the recessed region at the marginal edge portion of the opening 12 is of such magnitude that a major portion of the peripheral edge portion of the cover 14 cooperates with the downwardly facing surface of the annular horizontal wall part 24 in any position the cover may take in its final rest or closed position.

Although I have shown and described a single embodiment of my invention, I do not desire my invention to be limited to the particular arrangements set forth. Therefore, I intend in the claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A receptacle having a top access opening essentially of round form and a cover of generally similar shape for closing the opening, the marginal edge portion of the receptacle at the opening including a first vertically extending wall section and a second horizontally disposed wall section extending radially inward from an upper part of said first wall section, the cover in its closed position being disposed within the receptacle and having the peripheral edge portion thereof located beneath and in the immediate vicinity of the underside of said second wall section, the gap between diametrically opposed regions of the marginal edge portion being sufficiently wide for the cover to be moved sideways therethrough into the interior of the receptacle and be withdrawn therefrom, said first vertically extending wall section, at a region below said second horizontally disposed wall section, having spaced apart apertures distributed about the access opening, and mechanical means including members carried by the receptacle and forming a unitary part thereof which project radially inward through the apertures and coact with the peripheral edge portion of the cover when the latter is located beneath and in the immediate vicinity of the underside of said second wall section to hold the cover in its closed position, the members of said mechanical means being rendered operable responsive to the act of moving the cover to its closed position within the receptacle.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said mechanical means includes provisions for rendering said members snap-acting in operation.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 in which said mechanical means includes a spring for resiliently biasing each member radially inward, and a stop to limit the extent each member can move radially inward.

4. A receptacle having a top access opening essentially of round form and a cover of generally similar shape for closing the opening, the cover having a downwardly extending lip or skirt at the outer periphery thereof, the marginal edge portion of the receptacle at the opening including a vertically extending collar and a horizontally disposed wall section extending radially inward from said collar, the cover in its closed position being disposed within the receptacle and having the peripheral edge portion thereof located beneath and in the immediate vicinity of the underside of said wall section, the gap between diametrically opposed regions of the marginal edge portion being sufiiciently wide for the cover ,to be moved sideways therethrough into the interior of the receptacle and be withdrawn therefrom, said collar having spaced apart apertures distributed about the access opening, and mechanical means including members carried by the receptacle and forming a unitary part thereof which project radially inward through the apertures and coact with the lip or skirt of the cover when the latter is located beneath and in the immediate vicinity of the underside of said wall section to hold the cover in its closed position, the members of said mechanical means being rendered operable responsive to the act of moving the cover to its closed position within the receptacle and elfective to hold the cover in its closed position when the lip or skirt at the periphery thereof is moved upwardly a definite distance with respect to said members.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 4 in which said members have rounded inner ends which physically contact and bear against the extreme bottom edge of the lip or skirt at the periphery of the cover.

6. Apparatus as set forth in claim 5 in which said mechanical means includes a spring coacting with each member to bias the latter radially inward, the lip or skirt being effective to move said members radially outward against the biasing action of the springs when the cover is being moved to its closed position.

7. A receptacle or the like having an access opening and a cover for closing the opening, the access opening being defined by a rim having an inner face, the cover in its closed position at the access opening having the peripheral edge thereof located against the inner face of the rim, diametrically opposed regions of the rim having a gap therebetween sufiiciently wide for the cover to be moved sideways therethrough into the interior of the receptacle and be withdrawn therefrom, and mechani cal means to hold the cover in its closed position, said mechanical means including radially movable members distributed about the access opening which are carried by the receptacle and form a unitary part thereof and extend toward the axis of the opening, said members being disposed at a region between the end of the receptacle opposite to the access opening and the rim and spaced from the latter and having the inner ends thereof physically contacting the cover substantially at the peripheral edge thereof to hold the cover in its closed position, said members at their inner ends having converging surfaces at diametrically opposing sides which slope toward one another and are so constructed and formed that the only force required to move the cover to and from its closed position within the receptacle is a force applied to the cover substantially in alignment with the axis of the opening which imparts outward radial movement to the members, and said members, when viewed from the outer face of the rim, being offset angularly with respect to the gap between the aforesaid diametrically opposed regions of the rim.

8. A receptacle or the like as defined in claim 7 in which the cross-sectional area of the cover is greater than that of the access opening, the rim being recessed to provide the gap between the diametrically opposed regions thereof.

9. A receptacle or the like as defined in claim 7 in which said radially movable members are snap-acting.

10. A receptacle or the like as defined in claim 7 in which the receptacle at the vicinity of the access opening includes a first wall section extending lengthwise with respect to the axis of the opening and a second wall section forming the rim which extends radially inward toward the axis of the opening from the part of the first wall section nearest to the opening, said radially movable members forming a unitary part of the receptacle and being carried by the latter at the vicinity of the first wall section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 651,679 Tait June 12, 1900 1,875,906 Zarobsky Sept. 6, 1932 1,888,009 Moss -------0 Nov. 15, 1932 2,215,412 Thompson Sept. 17, 1940 2,258,522 Thompson Oct. 7, 1941 2,373,620 Visher Apr. 10, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,808 Great Britain 1915 130,665 Switzerland Mar. 1, 1929 778,869 France Ian. 2, 1935 

